Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

Home > Books > The Thing About Giants

The Thing About Giants

Please login to bookmark

Book Synopsis

Skandar meets The BFG in this powerful, cinematic middle grade debut, combining folklore, fantasy and adventure.

In the city of Fathach, giant hunters are equivalent to local heroes. The city’s walls are built from giants’ bones, and the townsfolk rely on their elite hunters to keep them not only prosperous, but safe. As everybody knows, giants are wild, violent, senseless creatures … aren’t they?

Twelve-year-old Jacq Dyer is the daughter of two renowned hunters – although she’s never wanted to follow in their footsteps. When she finds herself lost and injured in the wilderness outside the city walls, she comes face to face with Corman, a young giant.

Could everything she’s ever been told be a lie, and might there be a way to bring their two worlds together?

“A truly exceptional fantasy adventure that is sure to be a GIANT success. Galvin has created a big, epic world with characters that will capture your heart. I loved it.” AF Steadman, author of Skandar.

Our Review Panel says...

Told through the alternating voices of two unlikely allies, this quest is a shake-up of the stories we think we know. The plot follows Corman, a gentle giant living in fear of the metal birds that hunt giant kind, and Jacq, a human recruit raised by society to believe giants are nothing more than raw materials for the city’s expansion.

The narrative cleverly flips the ‘Jack the Giant Killer’ trope on its head through Jacq, a girl who starts out hunting giants but ends up questioning the very world she’s been conditioned to know and ultimately finds courage to become the giants’ protector instead.

Perfectly pitched for Year 5 and 6, this meaty read doesn’t shy away from big questions about prejudice and systemic lies. The grim reality of the factory, where giants are processed for their bones, demonstrates the guts it takes for Jacq to stand against the status quo in the face of politically spun narratives about ‘outsiders’.

With rich world-building, a cinematic quality and high-octane tension, this is a must-read for upper KS2 classrooms looking for a fresh, thought-provoking adventure that packs an emotional wallop.